Cloud In The New World Remake
by TomThorpe
Summary: It's been a year since Cloud and the rest of AVALANCHE defeated Sephiroth in the Northern Cave. Still feeling responsible for the deaths of Aerith and Zack, Cloud visits the overhanging cliff that houses the Buster Sword and is transported to Spira by a force that he is familiar with. Cloud has a new mission, he must aid Yuna on her pilgrimage to defeat Sin.
1. The Isle of Besaid

_**The Isle of Besaid**_

Midgar. The mako city that once knew prosperity, that's what the Shinra Corporation would have you to believe at least. Now it's just a pile of rubble after the Meteor incident. The scent of mako filled the air, even miles out the stench still lingered. Those that once inhabited the city, those that called it home now had nowhere to go and risked the possibility of mako poisoning the longer they stayed.

Cloud stood atop an overhanging cliff, taking in the depressing scenery as he wedged the Buster Sword into the ground at the edge of the cliff. He was lost in his own world, a world of pain, guilt and anger. How could he have forgotten about his best friend, his only friend from Shinra? How could he forget Zack's sacrifice to save him?

Not only Zack's death was his fault, but also Aerith's. If only he was mentally stronger, if only he could keep Sephiroth out of his head. Maybe if he had been able to do that, she might still be here. Cloud's grip of the Buster Sword tightened. He was so angry at his own weakness, it disgusted him. Not only that, it haunted him.

After letting go of his old friend's sword, Cloud's mind went to an even darker place. A looming shadow casted itself over him. Images of pain, images of destruction, images of suffering. Cloud's mind was racing. The blue in his eyes transposed into a dark green and his pupils had formed into slits, like a cat's. He could see Sephiroth staring at him with a smirk as he stood in the centre of burning ruins. He saw a creature in the sky, a creature he had never seen before. The overwhelming pain brought Cloud to his knees. Everything started turning white and his eyes closed.

Birds chirped and the waves of a sea roared. Cloud awoke to find himself on a beach. Blinding rays of the sun beamed down on him. What was going on? Was he dreaming?

"Where… am I?" Cloud spoke aloud to himself. He placed his hand on his head trying to figure out what was happening, but his mind was in a daze. Suddenly, the rays of the sun that were blinding Cloud had been blocked. A girl's head popped up from behind him.

"You're in the Isle of Besaid," Her voice was soft and calming. Her eyes were astonishing. One blue, the other green. It was as if Cloud was in a trance, all he could do was stare at those eyes, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Cloud kicked up and landed on his feet, "I just wasn't expecting an answer."

Where on Earth was Cloud? Never had he heard of a 'Besaid'. If there was a place called Besaid on Gaea surely Cid would know, or maybe he would be able to check. Cloud put his hand in his pocket. No phone, great. Come to think of it, Cloud was in his old SOLDIER 1st class outfit and he had the Buster Sword. What was going on here? Upon examining the girl, she wore very odd clothes especially for this day and age. Where the hell had Cloud ended up?

"Well, I'm glad you're okay. My name's Yuna."

"Cloud." Yuna seemed a little puzzled by Cloud's response and her face morphed into a concerned look.

"Are you sure you're alright? Why are you talking about clouds?"

"Cloud is my name." Cloud chuckled as the young lady's face turned red ever so slightly, that was cute.

"I'm- I'm so sorry! I didn't realise! Please forgive me!"

"Don't worry about it. You're not the first person to make that mistake and you definitely won't be the last."

"Well then, Cloud, why don't I take you to the village? Maybe then you can get some rest and get something to eat, you look awfully tired."

Now that Yuna mentioned it, Cloud did feel pretty tired. Maybe it was because of the mental exhaustion of trying to figure out just where the hell he had found himself. Other than that Cloud was at a stump.

"Sure, lead the way."

!~!

Fiends weren't really a problem on their way to Besaid. Yuna was surprised at how fast Cloud could move that massive sword of his and at how easily he was taking out the fiends on the path. Not even Kimahri was able to take them out at the speed Cloud was.

Cloud wore strange clothes Yuna noticed. It seemed to be some kind of uniform, however it looked like it had been altered. He only wore one pauldron, which seemed like it had been through a lot of wear and tear, on his left shoulder and on his left wrist he wore an unusual, almost mechanical-like bangle. Black leather gloves covered his hands and the belt that wrapped around his waist had an unfamiliar symbol emblazed across it. His blond spikey hair went off in every direction, yet it was surprisingly neat. The main thing she noticed though, besides how nice his face was to look at, was the strange glow in his sky-blue eyes.

"So, Cloud. How did you end up on the beach of Besaid anyway?"

"Don't know," That wasn't a good sign, "to be honest, I don't even know where I am right now. I've never heard of Besaid."

Never heard of Besaid? Sure, it wasn't a very big village, but there was still a temple there. Summoners from all over travelled there to visit the temple and pray to the fayth. It looked like Cloud was in a worse condition than she initially thought. Maybe he was suffering from memory loss, after all he didn't remember how he even got here.

They continued down the twisting and turning path. Less and less fiends were showing up the further they walked. Yuna couldn't tell whether it was because they were getting closer to the village or whether it was because Cloud was scaring them all off.

"Hey Yuna. What are all these ruins?" Cloud asked.

"Oh, they're just old machina ruins. The rumours around the village say that there's lots of treasure hidden in and around them."

"I see," Cloud seemed confused, it was like he was trying to solve a puzzle in his head, "is that the village up ahead?"

"Yes, it is. There's not much here, but it's been my home for 10 years now and all the people are really nice."

"10 years, huh? Where did you live before Besaid?"

"I was born in Bevelle and lived there until I was 8," Again, Cloud had a look of confusion on his face, "after that I met Kimahri Ronso, he took me to Besaid."

"So, that makes you 18 years old?"

"That's right," Yuna twiddled her thumbs a bit before mustering up the courage to ask, "How old are you, Cloud?"

"22." So, there was only a four-year gap between them. Good to know.

At last they had reached the village entrance. Everyone was going about their daily business, shopping, bartering, cooking, the usual stuff. Yuna spotted Lulu heading straight in their direction. She had hoped to slip Cloud through without her noticing, but there was no getting past Lulu.

Lulu's walk swiftly turned into a quick jog and her eyes were fixed on Cloud. Yuna turned to him and saw a noticeable change in his eyes. They were no longer a pair of dreamy inviting eyes, now they emitted anger, hatred and fear. Cloud dropped down onto one knee and eventually his eyes closed as he passed out.

!~!

"Cloud?" What was going on?

"Cloud!?" That voice, that sweet voice could only belong to one person.

"Aerith?"

"Aha! Finally, you answered me! I'm sure you have a lot of questions right now, huh?"

Everything around Cloud was white. The ground was covered in flowers. As far as Cloud could see, there was no end to them. Aerith stood behind him, her back touched his back.

"That girl, the places she spoke about, the things she wore, none of it made sense. What's going on, Aerith?"

"Well, Cloud. Simply put, you're not on Gaea anymore. I sent you to this world, because it needs your help."

"So, where am I? Why does this place need help?"

"This is Spira," Aerith lifted her arms up into the air and stretched, "Spira is plagued. A creature known as 'Sin' runs rampant around the world, killing, destroying, making people suffer. Summoners from all over try to defeat this great creature, some have even succeeded."

"If they've already defeated Sin, why do I need to help?"

"After a summoner defeats Sin, they become a high summoner and the Calm, a time without Sin, begins. The only problem is, upon defeating Sin, the summoner will die. To make things worse, Sin isn't truly defeated. After every Calm it has always come back. The reason I brought you here was to help a certain summoner defeat Sin once and for all, I believe you've already met her."

"Who? Yuna? What difference will it make if I help defeat Sin? Won't it just reappear again? How do I stop it?"

"I can't give you all the answers, but you need to make sure Yuna stays alive."

"What does it have to do with me?"

"More than you think, Cloud. I know you might be having doubts about it, so don't tell anyone about where you're from until you decide whether you want to help or not. Stick around for a few days. Get to know a few of the people then tell me your answer."

"But I-" as Cloud turned to face her the scenery around him started to fade and the white light around him faded into black.

!~!

When Cloud awoke, he found himself laying down on a bed inside of a hut. His shirt and gloves were folded up in a neat pile at the end of the bed, while his boots were on the floor next to it. The Buster Sword was leaning against the wall in the corner of the room. Cloud sat up and noticed there was some resistance.

"Stop! You need to rest!" Yuna was pushing against his chest, trying to get him to lay back down.

"Cute," Cloud chuckled, Yuna's face had turned red again, "Don't worry. Now that I've had a few hours to recover, I should be fine. My body is durable."

Cloud realised that he probably ended up like this because of the mental exhaustion he must've endured after travelling to a different world. Yuna sighed and stopped pushing, realising she wouldn't be able to win.

"Actually Cloud, it's been a few days, not hours," That surprised Cloud, "Me and some of the other women have been watching over you while you recovered."

"Well, I'm feeling a lot better now." Cloud stood up and stretched.

"Really? Then why don't you show me the prayer?"

"Prayer?" Looks like this world was a lot different than Cloud initially thought.

"I knew it! You're suffering from memory loss!" This Yuna was pretty extravagant with her theories, but it was cute, and it would help Cloud blend in without giving the fact that he wasn't from Spira away.

"Actually, now that you mention it, I don't remember anything. Only my name and how to use that sword," Cloud pointed at the Buster Sword and tried to remain in character, "Since I don't remember this prayer, why don't you show me?"

"Alright! Let's go then!" Yuna grabbed Cloud's hand and lead him outside.

"Hey, wait!" Cloud hadn't even gotten his shirt on or his boots yet. She was shorter than him and moving quite fast, Cloud was stumbling a little. As they exited the hut, the bright light of the sun blinded Cloud.

After his eyes had adjusted, Cloud took in his surroundings. The village was small and quaint. He could hear some giggling in the distance. It was coming from a group of women looking in Cloud's direction. What was so funny?

Cloud also saw a woman dressed in black walking towards them. She wore a black dress, with a fur trim along the top, which was very low cut. There were many belts wrapped around her, almost as if the lower half of her dress was made from them. Cloud also noticed the top of a stocking peeking through a gap in the belts on her left thigh.

"Yuna, he should be resting."

"Yes, I know, but-"

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Cloud interrupted Yuna, he didn't want her to get in any unnecessary trouble.

"Well then, Cloud, would you mind telling me how you got here?" The woman dressed in black's voice was cold.

"I'm not sure, it seems I'm suffering from memory loss. How do you even know my name?"

"For a start, most of the women won't shut up about you. Quite frankly, it's annoying," The woman turned to Yuna and continued to speak, "Yuna, it's time for you to practice."

"Oh, that's right! Sorry Cloud, but I must go. Why don't you take a look around the village, maybe it'll help jog your memory speaking to some of the people?" Cloud nodded then turned to the woman in black.

"Since you cheated in learning my name, I think it's only right that you tell me yours." The woman turned her back to Cloud.

"Lulu." She replied as the two walked away from Cloud.

Cloud re-entered the hut where his things were and put on his shirt, gloves and pauldron. Upon examining the Buster Sword, as well as his bangle, he noticed that there was some materia placed in them. Lightning and ice materia were housed in the two slots on the Buster Sword, while a master summon and other supportive materia could be seen in the bangle. An odd combination, but Cloud couldn't complain. Materia had saved him more than once in the past.

Before he left the hut, Cloud thought about where he should go. Most of the places in the village just seemed like housing and shop stalls. The only significant looking building was the temple. Religion must've been important on Spira. Yuna had asked Cloud to show her 'the prayer' almost as if it was common knowledge. Furthermore, she looked very shocked when Cloud didn't know it, that must have meant this religion was important. It looked like Cloud would be visiting the temple first.

As Cloud entered the temple, he could hear a song being sung or rather, a hymn. Perhaps it was something to do with this religion. Whatever it was, Cloud found it calming. He felt as though it was made for this exact purpose.

Four statues of men could be seen further ahead, could these be the high summoners Aerith had told him about? Cloud walked further in and saw a man that looked like a priest, or at least he looked like he was in charge.

"Are you in charge of this temple?" Cloud asked.

"Yes, I am the temple summoner. How are you feeling, my son?"

"I guess you heard about me, huh? Seems I'm suffering from memory loss, I don't really remember much apart from my name. I was hoping you could teach me about this religion, hopefully it'll job my memory."

"Well, that is concerning. However, at least you aren't seriously injured, praise be to Yevon."

"Yevon?" Cloud assumed that was the deity they worshipped.

"Yevon is the name of our religion, named after the great Yu Yevon. He was a summoner that lived in Zanarkand one thousand years ago. While he lived in a time without Sin, life was not so peaceful. He lived in a time of war, between Zanarkand and Bevelle. Both sides used machina, machines, to try and destroy the other, that's when Sin appeared. Many believe that machina was the cause of Sin's appearance, which is why it is forbidden to this day."

"If machina has been made forbidden, why does Sin still come back after it's been defeated?"

"The answer to this is unknown, however it is speculated that once we have atoned from our sins, Sin will eventually disappear forever. If you wish to learn more, there is a library in the temple where you can read about the history of Yevon." Cloud took the old man up on his offer and he was shown to the library.

Cloud decided to read about the four high summoners that were on display. Eventually, he came to the most recent high summoner, Lord Braska. It said here that he travelled with two guardians, Sir Auron and Sir Jecht. Braska and his guardians defeated Sin, resulting in the death of Braska. The current where abouts of Jecht and Auron are unknown.

Reading further it was said that the Calm Braska had brought only lasted for a single year. Even though it was a short peace, Braska brought a time of happiness to Spira, something that they were in desperate need of.

The text continued. A profile of Braska was given that showed details of his life, including a family profile. To Cloud's surprise, it said here that he had a daughter named Yuna. Could that be the same Yuna he had met on Besaid? It must've been, she said that she was from Bevelle originally and it also said on the text that Braska was from Bevelle. So, Yuna was the daughter of high summoner Braska? That's a big name to live up to.

Suddenly, screams of panic could be heard coming from the outside of the temple. Cloud stood up and immediately ran outside. A giant, sludge type fiend had somehow made its way to the village and was causing mayhem. He had seen this type of fiend on the road towards Besaid, but they were much smaller than this one.

As Cloud got closer, he noticed Yuna, Lulu and a ginger haired man trying to fight it. Yuna was trying her best to support the other two by healing them, using what looked like a cure spell. Lulu was casting black magic elemental spells at the fiend, however they seemed rather ineffective. The ginger haired man was throwing an oddly shaped ball at the creature, which was able to swat it away easily every time it came in. Cloud walked up to the three of them slowly.

"Cloud!" Yuna exclaimed.

"Hey, you shouldn't be here, ya! Look for somewhere safe to hide!" The ginger man said to Cloud, did he not see the giant sword on his back?

"Don't worry, I'll take care of this." Cloud responded as he drew the Buster Sword and took a fighting stance.

Cloud leaped forward and a highly powerful ice spell was launched at him. Quickly, he readjusted his body position and moved out of the way by hopping from his right foot to his left foot. With great speed he continued his frontal assault, dodging each spell as they came at him. When he was in range, Cloud wasted no time and immediately unleashed a flurry of attacks that made the fiend screech in pain. Cloud stepped back and unleashed his braver attack, which ultimately resulted in the fiend's defeat. With the job finished, Cloud put the Buster Sword back on his back.

"WOAHHH! Dat was amazing, ya," The red head exclaimed; Cloud just smirked in response, "Nice to meet ya brudda! I'm Wakka, coach and captain of the Besaid Aurochs. I'm also a part-time guardian for Yuna."

"Cloud."

"That's his name! Unconnected to the clouds in the sky!" Yuna followed up with a smile and a giggle. She really could be cute when she wanted to.

"Thanks for the help, although it wasn't necessary." Lulu was as cold as ever.

"Aww, come on! Don't be like that Lu!" Lulu looked at Wakka like she was going to kill him.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Her voice was cold and stern, scary.

"Cya again Cloud, ya?" Wakka said as he ran over to a group of men, all of them seemed to be wearing the same uniform. Some kind of sports team? Lulu also walked away, seemingly to calm everyone in the village down.

"So, how'd I do?" Cloud turned to Yuna taking his infamous SOLDIER pose.

"Great! But I do wish you wouldn't jump in so recklessly. Did you even know what kind of attacks that flan would throw at you?"

"Sometimes you just need to go for it. It all worked out in the end anyway, right?" Cloud shrugged.

"I guess, but still. What if you got hurt?" Cloud laughed at Yuna's comment, which made her fold her arms and pout.

"You care that much about a stranger? You really are a dummy," Cloud placed his hand on top of Yuna's head and smiled at her, "but don't get me wrong, that's not such a bad thing."

Yuna seemed flustered and her cheeks had gone red. She seemed at a loss for words, as she stuttered and stumbled across her words. Cloud smirked.

"I think it's about time you taught me this prayer," Cloud patted her head once and began walking past her, "you coming?"

"Yes!"

They had made their way to the hut, where Cloud had woken up from. Both laughed and joked as Yuna showed him all the various prayers that the people of Yevon had to know. Cloud managed to get the basic one right, but the others were too complex for him to remember. He didn't really believe in all this stuff anyway; he was just trying to fit in and act like a regular citizen of Spira.

"Hey, Yuna. What's this?" Cloud asked picking up an object that looked like a ball cut in half.

"It's a sphere, it's used for recording and viewing those recordings."

"But I thought machina was forbidden?"

"There are exceptions. Most of the forbidden machina are things like weapons, things like spheres are more acceptable."

Cloud wasn't convinced by this religion one bit. There's no way the use of machina could cause something like Sin to be created, something more must've been at play here. The fact that some machina was allowed, further helped Cloud make up his mind. Why would the type of machina make a difference? He wasn't buying it.

Before the pair knew it, the sun had set, and the stars were out.

"So, what's with Lulu and Wakka?" Cloud asked Yuna.

"What do you mean?"

"The tension between them, couldn't you feel it?"

"Oh! Yes, but it's always like that at times. They get along really."

"Any reason for that?" Yuna shifted her feet when Cloud asked his question.

"I don't think it's my place to say."

"Fair enough."

!~!

Cloud had awoken to the sounds of screaming. He ran outside and drew his sword. Another fiend, the same kind as last time, had found its way into the village. Unlike last time though, Yuna and her friends seemed more prepared. There was also one other person with them. If Cloud had to describe them, he would only need two words. Blue Nanaki.

This blue Nanaki stood on two legs, unlike Cloud's Nanaki, and he wielded a large spear. It looked like he knew how to use it as well. With Lulu countering the spells of the fiend with her own and Wakka distracting it with his ball, the blue Nanaki was able to get in close and slash away. Before Cloud knew it, the fight was already over before he even got there.

"I told you we didn't need your help." Lulu said to Cloud as he approached them.

"I guess you did. But it seems like you needed his help." Cloud teased. Wakka and Yuna shared a look of horror as they interrupted the conversation and changed the topic as fast as they could.

"This is Kimahri Ronso, he's one of my guardians. Remember, I told you about how he brought me to Besaid. He's not much of a speaker, so I wouldn't try saying anything."

"I'll keep that in mind," Cloud scratched the back of his head and looked at the group, "so, you're all Yuna's guardians? Are there anymore?"

"No brudda. It's just us, ya," Wakka turned to face Yuna, "By the way, Yuna. Temple summoner says he needs to speak with you about something, says it's urgent."

"Thanks for letting me know Wakka." Yuna waved goodbye to Cloud and headed for the temple along with Kimahri and Lulu.

Cloud had returned to the hut where he gathered some items. Nothing fancy, just a few potions and ethers. As he made his way back outside, he was confronted by Wakka.

"Hey, where you goin'?"

"That's the second day in a row that fiend has made its way to the village. There must be a nest, right?" Cloud replied as he walked past the ginger hair man.

"And what exactly are you gonna do when you find it?"

"I'm gonna destroy the source, obviously." Cloud continued to walk as Wakka followed closely behind him.

"You're really gonna go do that all on your own?"

"That was the plan."

"Well, I'm comin' too, ya!" The two had stopped walking at this point and Wakka had his hands on his hips and had puffed out his chest. Cloud stood there for a moment and looked at him.

"No thanks." He replied as he turned around and continued walking.

"What!? Hey, slow down," Wakka ran to catch up to Cloud, "I'm not taking no for an answer! I'm gonna follow you wherever you go, no matter what you say! This is my village, ya? I want to help protect it too."

Those last few words resonated with Cloud. He too at one time wanted to protect his hometown, but he couldn't do it.

"Fine," Cloud had given in, "just don't get in the way."

"Alright! Let's get going, Bubby!"

"Please don't make that a thing."

"Hahahahaha, too late brudda!"

!~!

Wakka had led Cloud to a cave where the fiends were most likely coming from. Water dripped from above and echoed throughout the cave. They had come across some fiends, but there was no sign of the big guys yet.

"You sure this is the place?"

"This is the only place it could be, ya."

As they continued further into the cave, the fiends were becoming noticeably more difficult. It looked like they were on the right track after all, but something was on Cloud's mind. Last night, Yuna seemed a bit uncomfortable when he asked about Wakka and Lulu. She had told him to ask them about it, now seemed as good a time as any.

"Hey, Wakka? What's the deal with you and Lulu? She seemed awfully cold towards you the other day."

"I figured you'd ask about that, ya," Wakka didn't look at Cloud as he spoke, "I guess it was about a year ago now, my younger brother, Chappu, joined the crusaders. The crusaders are a military group dedicated to fighting Sin, I don't know what they're thinking. Anyway, Chappu, he- he passed away while fightin' for the crusaders. He was meant to marry Lulu, but he never got the chance to propose. Lu can be cold towards anyone these days, especially me. I'm the captain of the team he played for after all, not to mention he was my younger brother. She isn't over his death yet, but she isn't like that all the time."

"Everyone deals with death in their own way, I can't really blame her." In light of this new information, Lulu actually reminded Cloud of himself.

"She'll pull through eventually, one of these days."

The two ventured deeper into the cave. They were still easily managing to take out the fiends, that was when they reached the end of the cave.

"Huh? A dead-end!?" Wakka exclaimed.

"Look closer," Cloud pointed at a gap in the wall that had light shining through it, "looks like we'll have to squeeze through there."

"You gotta be kiddin' me." Wakka sighed.

"Stop whining and let's go."

Cloud was the first to go. As he made it through to the other side, he was perplexed by what he saw. A mako fountain? It was only small, but Cloud recognised that it was similar to the one on Mount Nibel. That explained why and how the fiends got so strong, they were being infused with mako.

"Hey, what do you see!?" Wakka shouted as he was midway through the gap.

"Just some strange liquid, never seen it before," Cloud lied, "I think it might be the cause though."

"Awight! Then all we gotta do is plug it up!"

"I'll take care of it," Cloud walked up to the fountain, however before he could do anything, he heard a noise, "Heads up!"

A giant mutated fiend leaped out of nowhere and attacked Cloud. Fortunately for him he had anticipated it and had already drawn the Buster Sword enabling him to block the attack. The fiend looked like a giant wolf that had wings on its back, it seemed to be a fusion of two supercharged fiends.

Cloud took a defensive approach to analyse how it fought. After blocking a few strikes, he was able to tell that it generated most of its power by using its wings to thrust forward.

"Wakka, keep it busy!" Cloud ordered as he rolled out of the way of a bite attack.

Wakka nodded and span his ball around on his finger. The ball lit up and electricity began to surround it. He dropped the ball and volleyed it straight at the fiend. The result; a direct hit to the face. It growled and foamed at the mouth, baring its teeth at Wakka. Meanwhile, Cloud had made his way to a wall where he pushed against it with his feet to generate more force. He flew through the air and sliced his sword through one of the fiend's wings. Immediately, he jumped against another wall and took out the other wing.

"Nice one, Bubby!" Wakka shouted as he gave Cloud a thumbs up.

Just then, the fiend's body began to change. Its skin began to dissolve, and it was replaced by a strange sludge type substance, similar to the flan. Cloud swung his sword straight through one of its legs, no good. The leg seemed to regenerate in an instant.

"What the hell is this?"

"I thought you were the expert, Bubby!?"

"Tch, so what's your brilliant plan, genius?" Cloud responded sarcastically.

Wakka smirked and did a similar attack to earlier, only this time it was ice that appeared around his ball rather than lightning. Cloud liked his thinking. He had seen Lulu use magic, so that meant Cloud could use his materia. He launched a flurry of ice and lightning spells at the fiend. After overwhelming it with a combination of Wakka's elemental ball attacks and Cloud's magic, the fiend was defeated.

"Hey, you never told me you could use magic, ya!"

"Neither did you," Wakka seemed confused by Cloud's statement, "the ball attacks."

"That ain't magic! That's just a technique I've developed over time."

"Whatever let's just plug this up," Cloud walked up to the mako fountain and sealed it using his ice magic. Why and how did this even get here? He'd have to ask Aerith about this, "come on, let's get out of here."

!~!

Cloud and Wakka had returned to the village just as the sun beginning to set. Wakka said he needed to take care of some things at the temple and made his way there. As Cloud made his way back to the hut he was staying in, he noticed Yuna standing in the centre of the village. Her arms were folded, and she was staring at Cloud.

"Where have you been!?"

"Me and Wakka were taking care of the fiend problem you guys seemed to have."

"You went without the rest of us!? That was reckless! You could've at least told us where you were going as well!" Cloud's lips flickered. He covered his mouth and turned away as he began chuckling to himself. Yuna struggled, but she couldn't stop herself from joining in with the laughter.

"Dummy," Cloud tapped her on her head, "but seriously, you don't need to worry so much. I can handle myself."

"I guess you're right, but even so, I can't help it."

"Lady Yuna! Come play with us some more!" Cloud and Yuna were interrupted by a small child. There were more of them waiting a few metres back too. Yuna knelt down and nodded at the child who ran back to the group in excitement.

"I'll leave you to it. Don't get into too much trouble," Cloud said as he walked past her. Before leaving, he looked back and smirked at her, "or else I'll have to come rescue you again."

Yuna had made her way over to the group of children, they were all whispering and giggling about something.

"Hey, Lady Yuna! Who was that man?" One of them asked.

"He washed up onto the shore of the beach, his name is Cloud." Yuna replied.

"Yeah, yeah! I saw him yesterday! He beat up that huuuuge monster with his cool sword!" Another said.

"Hey, hey! Is he your boyfriend? Do you love him!?" Yuna's face was turning bright red, she could feel her cheeks burning up.

"Well, I, uh- n, no. He isn't my boyfriend or anything like that!"

"Why is your face so red, Lady Yuna?"

"H, hey! I thought you wanted me to play some games with you?" Lucky for Yuna, she was able to change the topic quickly and easily. She found it awkward talking about things like love, it embarrassed her. Now that she was thinking about it, did she like Cloud? She had only just met him, it's not like she was in love or anything. He was nice to look at though. No, she had a job to do. Yuna didn't have time for things like this, her mission was to defeat Sin.

!~!

As morning came, Cloud gathered his things and started making his way out of the village. Yuna had spotted him from a far.

"Wait, Cloud! Where are you going?"

"I thought I'd go check out those ruins you told me about." Yuna breathed a sigh of relief, she thought he was going to leave the island.

"Let me come with you!" She demanded; Cloud just smirked.

"Don't you have training to do?"

"Not today! So please, let me come!" This girl wasn't taking no for an answer. Cloud sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fine, let's get going." He eventually said, which made Yuna beam up. Cloud had already started walking, Yuna ran to catch up and walked by his side.

The two had made it to the ruins. Yuna put herself to use and scouted the area for treasure. Whenever she found something, she informed Cloud and allowed him to do the physical work of actually getting it. She had spotted treasure in all kinds of places, under the bridge and inside small crevices. Cloud had begun climbing one of the towers.

"Hey, don't fall behind!" He shouted down to Yuna.

She too started climbing up. Yuna wondered how Cloud made it look so easy, she was having a tough time getting up there. Noticing this, Cloud climbed back down to her.

"Here, jump on my back. I'll carry you up."

"Th-thanks." Yuna blushed as she climbed on Cloud's back. He had taken a hold of his sword to give her room to hold on.

As they got to the top, Cloud lowered himself down so that Yuna could get off, but she didn't want to get off. She was enjoying herself too much, the feeling of his strong back, the way she could rest her head on his shoulder, it just felt too good.

"Can I… stay up here?"

"Seriously?" Cloud sighed, "fine. But you better be the best treasure finder I've ever seen."

By the time the pair got back to the village, they were both covered in dirt and their clothes were stained. Thankfully for Cloud, the inn he was staying at offered a cleaning service.

Yuna ran up to Lulu and showed her the bag of goodies she had accumulated on her adventure. It was the first time he saw Lulu smile, there was even a hint of a laugh there. The two women exchanged some words and Yuna headed towards the temple.

"Thank you, you made her really happy today. Maybe I misjudged you."

"Well, she's got such a kind heart. I thought I should return the favour. That smile suits you, you should use it more often."

"Don't push your luck," Lulu paused for a moment, "if Yuna's happy, then I'm happy. So, I thank you for that."

Cloud didn't get a chance to reply, Lulu had already started making her way to the temple.

"Yo! Bubby! Come here!"

"Oh great." Cloud muttered to himself as Wakka called for him. He was stood with those people again; they all wore that same uniform.

"Let me introduce you to the team, ya?" Wakka had already started introducing them before Cloud even had a chance to say anything, "so, Bubby, how are ya at Blitz may I ask?"

"Blitz?"

"Oh, right. You still got that memory loss thing goin' on? Alright! Then I'll teach you, ya!"

Wakka began teaching Cloud about 'Blitzball' as he called it, his team was called the Besaid Aurochs. From his understanding it was a five aside ball game played in a water sphere. The rules seemed quite simple, but he wasn't sure how the players held their breath for so long. For Cloud it was easy, but that was only because of the help of the mako in his blood.

"How do you guys breath underwater for so long?"

"We don't, ya? The pyreflies allow us to breathe underwater." Wakka explained. Cloud didn't really know what pyreflies were, but he didn't want to ask. He'd already asked so many questions and he didn't want to appear completely clueless, even though that was exactly the case. He would have to read up on them at some point.

!~!

"So, what do you think? You still want out of here?" Cloud found himself back in the field of flowers, Aerith's soft voice passing through his ears.

"I guess, I'll stick around."

"Heehee, I knew you would. I'll present myself to Yuna when she prays tomorrow and explain the situation."

"Thanks," Cloud paused for a moment and turned to Aerith, "I found a mako fountain the other day, any idea what a mako fountain is doing on Spira?"

"Sorry, Cloud. I can't-"

"-tell me, yeah, yeah," Cloud sighed, "I guess I'll find out soon enough anyway."

"Well, this is goodbye, for now at least. Take care of yourself, Cloud."

"Yeah, you too."

!~!

"Wake!"

"Up!"

"Time!"

"For!"

"Training!"

Cloud awoke to the noise of Wakka and the rest of the Aurochs. His head throbbed from all the noise and he groaned. Cloud found himself having to use all of his will power to stop himself from hitting all five of them on the head.

"Do you have any idea what time it is!?"

"6am Brudda! You promised us last night that you would train with us today!" Wakka laughed.

"I'm gonna knock your heads off." Cloud grumbled under his breath as he slowly got up.

"What was that, Bubby?"

"Nothing, let's just do it."

Cloud was surprised at how intense the session was when Wakka described it to him. A 20-minute warm up, followed by a 40-minute circuit and after that, 1 hour of blitzing drills. The fun didn't stop there though. The last part of the session would be a 2-hour endurance run. These guys put in a massive shift; Cloud respected that.

"Hey! Come on, Bubby! You can do more squats than that!"

"I'm already doing more than you!" Wakka just laughed at Cloud.

After finishing the blitz drills, they had moved onto the running. Wakka had told them to run laps around the village. Cloud had already lapped the Aurochs 10 times as they approached the hour mark. It was at times like this he was glad to have the assistance of mako.

With 15 minutes left to go, Cloud had noticed Yuna coming out of the temple. She seemed to be having a heated discussion with Lulu, whatever it was Lulu looked like she caved in and accepted whatever Yuna was talking about. During this time their training session had come to an end.

"Well done boys! Make sure you stretch off!" Cloud had already started stretching before Wakka even said anything.

"Wakka!" Yuna called for Wakka and motioned him to come to them. Again, they seemed to be having a heated discussion, although this time it wasn't as intense, and it didn't last as long. This time it was Lulu who did the convincing and eventually the three seemed to agree on something. They all started walking towards Cloud, Yuna seemed nervous about something.

"Cloud, can we, um, talk to you about something?" Yuna asked. Cloud just nodded.

"You're a powerful warrior, anyone is able to see that much." Lulu said.

"And you seem to care about Yuna, somewhat." Wakka continued. They both turned to Yuna, who was looking at the floor and twiddling her thumbs.

"What is it, Yuna?" Cloud asked.

"I-" Yuna looked up at Cloud, her eyes looking straight into his, "I would like you, to be my guardian!"

_**Recently been inspired by all the new FF7 Remake trailers, so I thought I'd make a remake of my own! Looking back, I'm not happy with how Cloud in The New World turned out, so hopefully this remake will fix that! Be sure favourite and follow! And don't forget to leave a review!**_


	2. The Summoning

_**The Summoning**_

This was it, the big moment. If Cloud agreed to this, there would be no turning back. He would be promising to protect Yuna until her pilgrimage was complete. Not only that, he would be promising to prevent her death. He still didn't know how he was going to do that though; he needed more information.

"I accept your offer, but there's something you should all know."

"Don't worry, Cloud. I've already told Lulu and Wakka about where you're from. Actually, I knew that you weren't from Spira since before you got here."

"What?" Cloud was surprised, how could she have known?

"A woman came to me while I was praying at the temple, her name was Aerith. She told me she was sending someone to help me on my pilgrimage. When I saw you washed up on the beach, I knew it was you." That Aerith! She never intended on giving Cloud an option.

"Then, you know why I'm here? You know that I'm going to prevent your death?"

"Yes."

"Then, you really know of a way?" Lulu questioned Cloud.

"Not yet, but there must be a way. Aerith wouldn't have sent me here if there wasn't," The two guardians seemed troubled by speaking about this, "Don't worry, leave the thinking to me. I know it's probably hard for you all to talk about, so let's just let it lie for now."

"Well then, changing the topic. Yuna will be praying to the fayth tomorrow to obtain her first aeon. You should make sure you're prepared." Lulu informed Cloud. Lulu and Wakka both left after that. They must've gone to prepare in their own ways.

Lulu said something about an aeon. Cloud had read about them at the temple. Summoners could call forth these beings of great power to fight by their side. It sounded similar to summon materia, but Cloud wasn't sure how they were able to be called.

"Lulu said you had to pray to the fayth, is that how you obtain the aeon?"

"That's right," Yuna replied with a smile, "I pray to them and in return, they bond their soul with mine. That is how we summoners are able to call upon the aeons."

"You prepared for it?"

"I believe, I am ready for it."

"That's good, confidence is the key to anything," Cloud put his hands on her shoulders, "you'll be fine. You're trained for this, right?"

"Thank you, Cloud."

"Yuna." Kimahri, who was standing at the bottom of the steps to the temple, called for Yuna.

"I guess, you have a lot of preparing to do. I'll see you later." Yuna nodded in response and ran towards Kimahri.

Lulu had told Cloud to be prepared, but he wasn't exactly sure how to go about doing that. He thought about asking her how, but he couldn't find her anywhere in the village. Cloud noticed Wakka leaving the village with the rest of the Aurochs.

"Hey, Wakka." Cloud had made his way over to them before they left.

"Yo, Bubby! What's up?"

"Lulu told me I need to be prepared for tomorrow when Yuna prays to the fayth. Any idea how I'm supposed to do that?"

"Hmm. Well, everyone prepares in different ways. You're gonna be in there for a long time, ya? Might be your last chance to do any exercise for a while. Why don't you come join us and play some blitz? Could save ya from goin' crazy in there, ya?"

"Fine," Cloud sighed, "just don't give me any of that 'you can do better than that, Bubby' crap, okay?"

"Hahaha, no promises there!"

Cloud, Wakka and the rest of the Aurochs went down to the beach, where Cloud had washed up on. They swam under the water and commenced their game. It wasn't a full game. They didn't have enough players for that, so they played a three aside game instead. Cloud's mako advantages really helped him shine. Blitzball was a very physically demanding game, Cloud respected those who played it regularly. Once the game had finished, they returned to the surface and made their way to the beach.

"Bubby! You're really good, ya? Do you play Blitz back on your world or something?"

"No. On Gaea, Blitzball doesn't even exist. Didn't I already tell you? I've never heard of it before."

"So then, how are you so good? You must have some natural talent for it!"

"I wouldn't say that," Cloud shook his head "Look, I'm not built like a normal human. Mako runs through my veins, it enhances my abilities to the extreme."

"Mako?"

"Mako is the blood of my planet. All members of SOLDIER are showered in mako, that's why my eyes have this strange glow."

"You were a soldier?" Cloud sighed and proceeded to inform Wakka about all things Shinra and how they were draining the life from the planet using the mako reactors in Midgar.

After Cloud finished his story, Wakka and the Aurochs made their way back to the village. Cloud had decided to stay behind. He stared out at the ocean and thought back about his time on Gaea. Speaking to Wakka about it had really made him realise how much he was missing his friends.

Just then, Cloud quickly turned and drew the Buster Sword. He blocked an attack coming in from someone familiar to him. What was his name, Kimahri? Three more attacks came in from Kimahri's spear, however Cloud was able to block them. It seemed like Kimahri wanted to test Cloud's skills in battle, a friendly sparring match was all it was. Cloud decided to launch a few attacks of his own. He unleashed a three-hit combo at a decreased speed, just to test how fast Kimahri's reactions were. All three were blocked, with Kimahri countering the third. It was a straightforward thrust attack; Cloud simply side-stepped out of the way and found the opening he needed to end the spar. He swung at the spear knocking it out of Kimahri's hands and pointed the Buster Sword at him. Kimahri nodded in acknowledgement of Cloud's strength.

"Getting along?" Yuna must've been watching the whole time from a distance.

"I guess you could say that," Cloud shrugged, "you ready for tomorrow?"

"Yes, all the preparations have been made. I just hope I can make the people happy."

"Looks like the sun will set soon, why don't we head back?"

"Alright, you can tell me about Gaea while we walk!"

"What do you want to know?"

Just as Cloud said, the sun had begun to set as they reached the village entrance. As they got there, Cloud had just finished telling Yuna about all of the members of AVALANCHE. Kimahri really only seemed interested when Cloud spoke about Nanaki though.

Wakka and Lulu had spotted Cloud, Yuna and Kimahri as they walked deeper into the village, it seemed like they were discussing tomorrow's plans.

"So, tomorrow. Me, Kimahri and Cloud will be the ones to escort Yuna through the cloister of trials and wait for her while she prays to the fayth." Lulu informed them as she and Wakka approached.

"You're not coming, Wakka? I thought you were a guardian?" Cloud asked.

"Part-time guardian. I need to help train the Aurochs for the Crystal Cup in Luca."

"Isn't this more important than a Blitzball tournament?"

"Well, normally I'd agree with you, ya. But the thing is, Chappu used to play for the Aurochs. He said that after he won the Crystal Cup with the Aurochs, he would propose to Lu. This is just something I gotta do, ya! After this year's tournament, I'll be a full-time guardian. No questions about it." Cloud noticed that Lulu had turned her back, was she crying? No, not crying, but she was on the brink. This Chappu must've meant a lot to her and he was Wakka's brother, Cloud couldn't object.

"I get it. Make sure you train your ass off, Wakka."

"Thanks, Cloud."

"Yuna, you should rest. I suggest you do the same, Cloud. Tomorrow is an early start and we'll be in there for quite a while." Lulu said, she seemed to have regained her composure.

"I think you're right. Goodnight, everyone." Yuna replied as she walked to her hut. The others all began to disperse as well, leaving Cloud alone in the centre of the village.

Cloud could sense their sadness. He couldn't blame them, tomorrow was the day Yuna would become a summoner, the day she would start her journey to defeat Sin, the day she would walk towards inevitable death. Although Cloud had told them he was going to stop her from dying, they didn't seem to think there was a way. As he said earlier, Cloud didn't know of a way either. There wasn't enough information to go on. Another visit to the temple library would be pointless, there didn't seem to be anything there that would help. All Cloud could do now was rest and wait for the morning to come. A solution would present itself soon, right?

!~!

Cloud felt groggy. He stood with Kimahri and Lulu outside of Yuna's hut, waiting for her to get ready. The three of them seemed to share the same hatred for mornings, at least Lulu and Cloud did. Cloud couldn't tell whether Kimahri hated the morning or whether he was just being his usual silent self, Yuna did say he never really spoke much.

At last Yuna exited the hut. They made their way to the temple, passing by the Aurochs and Wakka on the way there. Wakka wished them good luck before running out of the village with the rest of the Aurochs, Cloud assumed they were heading to the beach again.

Upon entering, those who were in the temple bowed their heads to Yuna and performed the standard prayer of Yevon. Yuna replied with one of the summoner's prayers and was greeted by the temple summoner.

"You are sure you are ready, Lady Yuna?"

"Yes."

"Then the cloister of trials awaits you."

The cloister of trials, Cloud read about them briefly. A test of knowledge and problem solving, a test of wit and resilience. Apparently, it was within the teachings that only one person at a time could attempt the trial. Yuna, Lulu and Kimahri had all gone, now it was Cloud's turn to face the trial.

Right off the bat, Cloud noticed a glowing glyph on the wall of the tiny room. As he touched it another appear to the right of him, again on the wall. Upon touching the new glyph, the wall in front of him rose up, revealing a hidden passage.

"I think I'm gonna grow to hate this." Cloud sighed.

He continued on and took a sphere from a pedestal melded into the wall. There appeared to be a hole in the centre of a locked door, it seemed to be about the same size as the sphere he had just taken. Cloud inserted the sphere into the door causing it to fling open. A few exchanges of spheres into pedestals and Cloud had managed to reveal a passageway that lead to the chamber of the fayth, he even managed to find a treasure chest inside.

"Looks like you made it, although you did take your time." Lulu taunted.

"Maybe, but I did also find this." Cloud presented the staff he had found to the others.

"That's a summoning staff! It enhances the strength of a called aeon! Where did you get that?" Lule sounded both shocked and impressed.

"A magician never reveals his secrets," Cloud replied as he walked up to Yuna, "if it's a summoning staff then I guess you should take it, Yuna."

"Thank you, Cloud." Yuna smiled as she accepted the staff and took a hold of it.

The group approached the entrance to the chamber of the fayth. Yuna turned to Kimahri and hugged him. She said a few words to Lulu and also hugged her, then she turned to Cloud.

"Do your best in there, Yuna." Cloud said to her.

"I will." Yuna stood there awkwardly for a moment before giving Cloud a crushing hug. He was surprised by her actions. Once she had let go of him, Yuna made her way up the stairs and into the chamber.

A few hours had gone by. Everyone had claimed their own space and kept to themselves. Kimahri stood next to the exit, his eyes were closed. It seemed like he was in a meditative state. Neither awake, nor asleep. Lulu stood in the corner of the room, seemingly experimenting with her magic on a smaller scale. Cloud was sat at the top of the stairs, leaning back against at pillar and juggling two pieces of materia in one hand.

"What's that?" Lulu asked as she moved over and sat at the bottom of the stairs.

"It's called materia. It allows me to use magic, just like you do."

"All magic?"

"No, each piece of materia has its own unique ability."

"That sounds useful. Why don't you teach me about it, maybe it'll help pass the time?"

"Sure."

Cloud explained to Lulu the basics of materia, how it was formed, how to use it, that sort of stuff. He also told her about the different types of materia, magic, summon, command, independent and support.

"Summon? What does that entail?"

"It's similar to summoning aeons, I'm assuming. Though, we don't have to pray to them."

"Fascinating, perhaps there is some connection between your summons and our aeons."

"Who knows?"

It felt like they had been waiting for hours on end. By Cloud's estimate, they had been there for almost an entire day, close to a full 24 hours. Wakka did say that they would be in there for a while, Cloud just didn't expect it to be this long. His mako enhancements usually allowed him to go for a number of hours without eating, but even Cloud was beginning to feel hungry. He couldn't imagine what it must've felt like for Lulu and Kimahri.

Just then, Cloud heard the opening of doors. Wakka and some blond kid walked in. He had never seen this kid before, but he looked completely lost. Cloud knew he wasn't a guardian, so why was he in here? Wasn't it forbidden for anyone other than guardians and summoners to pass through the cloister of trials?

"What are you doing here? Didn't think we'd be able to handle it?" Lulu said in a sharp voice as she rose to her feet.

"No, it's uh… it's just," Wakka turned to face the kid, "See I told you she gets mad easy, Tidus."

"Is the summoner alright?" Tidus asked, he really had no idea what was going on?

"What are you doing in here?" Cloud stared directly at this Tidus, or whatever Wakka had called him. He looked shaken by Cloud's presence.

Again, the sound of a door opening could be heard. Yuna stumbled out of the chamber of the fayth, exhaustion reflected in her face. She took another step and began to fall. Luckily Cloud was right next to her and he was able to catch her before she fell to the floor.

"I've done it, I have become a summoner!" Yuna exclaimed as Cloud helped her back to her feet. He and Kimahri helped her walk to the exit. Wakka moved aside, while Tidus stood there gaping. Cloud just moved him out of the way and exited with Yuna.

"What's that guys deal?" Tidus asked Wakka with a shaky voice.

"Hahaha. You gettin' scared of Bubby over there?" Wakka teased, although he was quickly silence.

"Let's just go. We'll talk about this later, Wakka." Lulu scolded as she walked past the pair to catch up to the others.

Tidus felt bad. He felt like he'd just gotten Wakka into some big trouble because he barged in, ignoring the rules. Wakka had been nothing but helpful to Tidus ever since he got here, so it made him feel guilty.

"So, who's this 'Bubby' then, Wakka?" Tidus asked as the two set off after the others.

"His real name is Cloud Strife. He's only one of the most powerful warriors I ever seen, ya!? He was in a similar situation to you, you know? He washed up of the beach as well, Yuna found him there and took care of him until he recovered. I'll tell you more about him later though, you might wanna watch this, ya?" Wakka said as they exited the temple to a crowd of people standing around Yuna.

"Watch." Yuna said to Cloud as she gently pushed him in the direction of the other guardians. Tidus looked up at the man, his eyes emitted a strange glow. Creepy.

Cloud glanced at Tidus who immediately turned his head away and looked straight at Yuna. Cloud also turned his attention back to the newly announced summoner. She began performing a ritual, causing different types of glyphs to appear all around her. Purple rays of light spiralled into the sky and a regal roar pierced through the air. A winged beast emerged from the clouds, with great speed it landed next to Yuna.

"What's its name?" Cloud asked.

"Valefor." Yuna replied as she caressed the aeon's cheek and patted it on the head. As she dismissed the aeon, everyone from the village crowded around her. Cloud and the other guardians moved to her side and managed to give her some breathing room. Eventually, they managed to slip away and get some rest at their respective huts.

As Cloud awoke and exited the inn, the moon and stars were out. It seemed like he was the last to wake up. Wakka was with the Aurochs as well as that Tidus kid. Yuna was sat by a bonfire at the centre of the village, along with a few of the village folk. Kimahri was stood close by her. However, the first thing Cloud saw was Lulu waiting for him outside of the inn.

"Awake at last, I see."

"So, what do you want? You wouldn't be waiting for me just to chat, would you?"

"We leave first thing tomorrow to start the pilgrimage. We'll be taking a ship to Kilka, so make sure you're ready to leave." Lulu replied, ignoring Cloud's sarcasm.

"Got it."

As Lulu walked away, Cloud pinched the bridge of his nose. He had managed to get over his motion sickness for most forms of transportation, however he had not yet mastered sea travel. Luckily for him, he had a few doses of tranquiliser with him. Cloud hoped that would be enough to help him out.

"Victory! Victory! Victory!" The Aurochs were chanting, they seemed to be fired up.

"Looks like you guys are in the spirit for the tournament." Cloud said as he made his way over to them.

"Well with this Blitz wizkid on our side, there's no way we could lose!" Wakka exclaimed, throwing one arm around the neck of Tidus.

"If you say so." Cloud shrugged.

"Do you play Blitz, Cloud? Uh, Mr. Strife, sir?" Tidus asked, just managing to muster up the courage to speak to him.

"I've only trained with Wakka twice, so I wouldn't exactly say that I play it."

"Bah! Don't make me laugh, ya!? Bubby's a natural! He's probably faster in the water than all of us combined!"

"Then, you should join us! Yeah! You should play in the cup!"

"Not interested," Cloud shut down Tidus's request, "I hope this gamble of yours delivers, Wakka. You know Lulu isn't gonna like this."

"I hope so too, ya. Lu might kill me if it doesn't."

"Hey! The star player of the Zanarkand Abes always delivers!" Tidus shouted, causing heads to turn in their direction.

"Zanarkand? I thought it was in ruins, how could there be a team?" Cloud questioned. Tidus started stumbling over his words, he couldn't string together a complete sentence.

"Uh, don't mind him Bubby! He's got some crazy Sin toxin thing goin' on, his mind is a bit muddled up right now, ya? Thinks he's from Zanarkand or something, apparently the lights never go out there!" As Wakka was explaining the situation, Tidus seemed to have conveniently wandered off. Cloud saw him speaking to Yuna, the conversation looked awkward though. He thought about interfering, but at the end of the day it wasn't his business to do that.

Cloud had moved away from the bonfire, taking a position where there weren't many people around. He looked up at the night sky. Stars were lined all across the black canvas, it reminded him of that starry night at Nibelheim. The promise made between two friends that intertwined their fates rushed to Cloud's mind. He wondered how Tifa was doing, how everyone was doing. Denzel, Marlene and Yuffie were probably keeping Tifa on her toes though, Cloud hoped Barret was giving her a helping hand.

"They're pretty tonight, the stars, aren't they?" Yuna said as she moved to Cloud's side.

"Yeah, they're reminding me of home."

"Gaea?"

"Yeah, but also my hometown."

"Your hometown? Tell me about it, does it have a name?"

"Nibelheim. It was a quiet town, not much ever happened there. Not until the mako reactor was built anyway. Everything was fine until…" Cloud's expression changed. He didn't look like his usual self; sadness enveloped his visage.

"Until what?"

"Nothing," Cloud didn't want to get into the Nibelheim incident right now, he didn't want to relive that memory, "hey, let me ask you something?"

"Go ahead." Yuna replied.

"What are those things that a fiend turns into when it's defeated?"

"Pyreflies. They're beings of pure energy; they have no true form. They guide the souls of the dead to the Farplane, where they can rest in peace."

"Pure energy? That sounds a lot like-"

"Lady Yuna! Come and help us with our daisy chain!" Cloud was interrupted by one of the children of the village. Yuna agreed and the girl ran back towards the bonfire.

"Why don't we continue this conversation tomorrow? You can tell me about all your adventures with AVALANCHE." Before Cloud could even reply, Yuna started making her way over to the children.

Some time had passed, the bonfire had finally gone out and most of the village had returned to their homes. Cloud was about to enter the hut when he heard arguing in the distance, it sounded like Wakka and Lulu.

"He's dead, okay? Dead," Lulu seemed furious with Wakka, "he does look a lot like Chappu. I was surprised, too, the first time I saw him. But, nomatter what he looks like, he isn't Chappu. You shouldn't have brought him here in the first place!"

"Yeah, but… he needed out help."

"Excuses again?"

"Yeah, but…"

"That's it! No more. Enough, Wakka!"

!~!

Cloud had risen from his slumber and made his way outside to meet the others. He saw Wakka handing a sword to Tidus. It appeared to be a one-handed longsword with a hook connected to the tip. The blade itself reflected the imagery of water; the material gave it an illusory property that made it appear as though the water was moving.

"That's the sword you gave Chappu." Lulu observed, her voice slightly shaken.

"Well, he never used it." Wakka seemed almost depressed after the mentioning of his brother's name, it looked like he was still getting over the loss too.

"Where's Yuna?" Cloud asked as he approached the group, hoping to change the topic.

"We're taking the same boat as her, right? Why do we gotta wait here?" Tidus asked, clueless as ever. Wakka began explaining the relationship he and Lulu had with Yuna, that she was like a little sister to them.

"This is our journey; we should leave together." Just as Lulu spoke, Yuna exited the temple with a pretty big suitcase. She looked like she was struggling to carry it, "You really don't need all that luggage."

"They're not really my things. They're gift for the temples we're to visit."

"This isn't a vacation Yuna." Cloud wasn't really sure why Lulu and Wakka were getting so serious all of a sudden, especially Wakka. Cloud didn't think Wakka even had a serious side to him.

"What's the issue? This is Yuna's journey, right? She calls the shots."

"Ahh! Alright then, I guess you're right," Wakka seemed to have taken on his usual demeaner again, "but you're carryin' it, Bubby!"

"What? Too heavy for you, big guy?" Cloud teased as he made his way towards Yuna who was still struggling, though she did seem a bit happier after Cloud had spoken up for her.

"Thank you." Yuna whispered in Cloud's ear as he took a hold of the suitcase.

"No problem."

They didn't make it very far before they stopped again. Lulu and Yuna were looking down at the village in the distance, taking one final look before they left. Wakka did the same, however he was trying to make it less obvious. Tidus appeared to be getting restless.

"Let's get going, man!" He blurted out, jogging on the spot like a kid.

"Are you really that dumb?" Cloud asked rhetorically.

"We're gonna wait." Wakka informed him.

When Yuna moved away from the rail, they made their way to some kind of monument. Cloud had seen it before in the multiple times he left the village, but he just assumed it was another machina ruin. He overheard Wakka saying something about it being an ancient custom to pray at this monument for a safe trip.

"Chappu didn't pray that day. Said he'd miss his boat." Cloud felt almost compelled to pray after hearing Wakka say that, just to put him at ease. How did it go again? Cloud performed the basic prayer Yuna had taught him, he didn't get on his knees like she and Wakka did though.

As they continued down the path, various fiends had presented themselves. Fortunately, it looked like Cloud and Wakka had done enough by plugging up the mako fountain, these fiends were a lot weaker than the ones that had made their way to the village. Due this, Cloud took a backseat and stayed by Yuna's side, allowing the other three to deal with them. Wakka and Lulu were teaching Tidus about the different type of fiends and how to beat them.

"What do you think?" Yuna asked Cloud.

"I think Kimahri's gonna kill him." Cloud was less than impressed by Tidus's display of swordsmanship, more so by his lack of understanding.

"Heh! Watch this!" Tidus yelled as he went in for an attack on a water flan. Obviously, failure was the outcome. The kid seemed perplexed by the fact that he hadn't sent the fiend to the Farplane.

"Hmph. Clueless, aren't you? Good thing I'm here." Lulu took the fiend out easily with her lightning magic. She explained to Tidus that it was possible to take flans out with physical attacks, but it would either take a long time or a powerful blow, something Tidus lacked.

"So, AVALANCHE recruited you because they wanted you to help save the planet?" Wakka asked, Yuna and Lulu both seemed to be curious as well. It seemed like Tidus had gone ahead.

"Well, saying it was to save the planet makes it sound more gracious than it was. They recruited me to help them blow up a mako reactor," That seemed to spark a reaction from the others, they seemed to become wary of Cloud, "but don't get the wrong idea. Our main target was extraction pump. The bomb wouldn't completely destroy the reactor, it would just stop it from working. That's what we thought at least."

"You, uh, thought?" Wakka asked, still shaken at the prospect that Cloud may have been more dangerous than they thought.

"Just as we made our escape, the entire thing exploded. When our bomb went off, the extraction pump was destroyed just as planned. However, Shinra ordered all of the machina in there to fire at the reactor. They plotted to destroy their own reactor just to push the narrative that AVALANCHE were terrorists. Hundreds of lives were lost."

"That's terrible! How could anyone do something so bad, ya? This is exactly what causes things like Sin to appear!"

"Look, what's done is done. They got what they deserved in the end anyway. I'll tell you about that at a later time. Right now, we've got other things to deal with," Cloud said as he pointed up ahead, "it's started."

A battle had broken out, one Cloud was expecting. Kimahri was fighting Tidus to test his strength. It looked like Tidus was losing, badly. It wasn't that much of a surprise, Tidus was still a novice after all and Kimahri seemed like he'd been fighting all his life, the broken horn gave it away.

"That's enough!" Kimahri lowered his weapon upon Wakka's shout. He shook his head disapprovingly, before continuing down the path towards the ship.

"What's with that guy!?" Adrenaline pumped through Tidus' veins as he spoke.

"Kimahri Ronso, of the Ronso tribe. He's learned the fiends' way of fighting." Lulu explained.

"That's not what I meant!"

"Don't take it to heart. He just wanted to test your skills. If he wanted to kill you, he would've." Cloud told the young blitzer.

"Sometimes we don't understand him either. Kimahri doesn't talk much anyway, but he has protected me since I was a child." Yuna chipped in.

Swiftly, the group continued down the road in follow of Kimahri. They were beginning to pass the ruins where Cloud and Yuna had gone on their treasure hunt. Needless to say, not a single bit of treasure had been left behind.

"That's a big bird." Cloud observed as a Garuda flew by, deciding to engage in combat with them.

"That's your department, right Wakka?" Tidus asked.

"True, true. But, why don't we let our summoner show us what she's made of?" Cloud was intrigued by Wakka's comment, he too was curious about an aeon's fighting ability.

"You sure you can handle this?" Cloud asked Yuna before she went into battle.

"Just watch!" Yuna seemed like she wanted to impress Cloud in her first real battle. He was looking forward to seeing her fight, especially with her so fired up.

Valefor came down from the heavens to answer Yuna's call. The Garuda didn't stand a chance, right from the get-go. With a combination of black magic and wing attacks, the Garuda took a beating from Valefor. It didn't take long before the oversized bird was disappearing into a cloud of pyreflies.

"Impressive," Cloud said, reaching for the hilt of his sword as he did, "but it looks like you missed one."

In the blink of an eye, Cloud rushed past Yuna and the others. He jumped up to the second Garuda, that had accompanied the other, and struck its wing. The bird fell to the ground and with a bit of improvisation, Cloud performed Braver while in the air. With just two strikes the second Garuda had been defeated and Cloud performed his victory celebration.

"Show off." Yuna said as she nudged into him with her body.

"You'll get there one day." Cloud patted Yuna on the head and they continued on.

Eventually they came to the beach where a few of the people from the village, as well as the temple summoner, were waiting for them. The few that came were giving Yuna small departing gifts. Although the gifts weren't much, it was the thought that counted.

Cloud had just finished loading Yuna's suitcase of gifts onto the ship and had thrown back a tranquiliser before the honk of a horn indicated the departure of the ship. All of the village people that showed up were waving goodbye to them, some of them crying, some barely holding it back. A single child ran to the edge of the dock balling his eyes out and waving at Yuna. Cloud, who was leaning on the rail of the boat, noticed tears beginning to stream down Yuna's face. He sighed and pulled her head into his chest.

"Hurry up and let it out, before anyone notices." Yuna cried her heart out, a wet patch was formed on Cloud's SOLDIER uniform. Quickly drying her eyes, Yuna turned to face the docks.

"Goodbye, Besaid."


	3. Kilika

_**Kilika**_

"Chocobos!?" The last thing Cloud was expecting to see on this ship was a chocobo, let alone several of them. They were all running around inside each of their own individual wheels, similar to how a hamster would run in its cage.

"What's so strange about chocobo power?" A woman asked him, Cloud assumed she was the engineer.

"I, uh," Cloud shook his head and quickly recomposed himself, "it's nothing. Forget I said anything."

As Cloud made his way up to the deck of the ship, he noticed Yuna was surrounded by a few of the passengers. He didn't recognise any of them, they couldn't have come from Besaid. Cloud wondered whether this had anything to do with her father, he was a high summoner after all. Wakka, Tidus and Lulu all appeared to be having a conversation, while Kimahri was watching Yuna from a distance.

Cloud moved to the side of the ship, where he rested his elbows on the rail and looked out at the horizon. He had heard that looking at the horizon helped with motion sickness and right now he needed that help. The effects of the tranquiliser he took before they set off had finally started wearing off.

"Are you okay, Cloud? You look pale." Yuna asked as she approached Cloud, it looked like she had managed to slip away from the crowd.

"It's just motion sickness."

"Maybe I can help with that!" Yuna took a step back and started to cast a spell. Almost immediately, Cloud felt normal again. He recognised this kind of magic, it was esuna. That spell had helped Cloud more than once back on Gaea when he was on a long journey.

"You're a life saver, you know?"

"Is it really that bad?"

"Well, it was a lot worse when I was younger. I've got more control over it now, I'm fine on most forms of transportation. Trains, motorbikes, chocobos, everything apart from sea travel for some reason." Cloud explained.

"Chocobos? You're telling me that you've ridden a chocobo before?"

"That's right, I was actually a little surprised to find a few in the engine room. I didn't think Spira would have any." Before they could continue their conversation, Tidus had decided to stroll up to the pair.

"Hey, what'cha up to?" The young blitzball player asked.

"We were just talking about chocobos." Yuna replied.

"Chocobos?" Tidus had moved to the rail and sat upon it.

"Oh, that's right! You're a blitzball player from Zanarkand, aren't you? You've probably never heard of them before."

"You hear that from Wakka? Wakka… he doesn't believe me at all, I bet Bubby over there doesn't either," Cloud glared at him, "I mean, uh! I bet Cloud doesn't either! Yeah, Cloud, that's right, not Bubby."

"I've heard, in Zanarkand there is a great stadium, all lit up even at night! Great blitzball tournaments are held there and the stand are always full!" Yuna was trying to ease off the tension a bit.

"How do you know that!?"

"A man named Jecht told me."

"Your father's guardian, right?" Cloud asked to which Yuna nodded in reply. Tidus looked like he had just seen a ghost. He kept mumbling Jecht's name under his breath.

"My father, his name is Jecht." Tidus went on to explain that his father went missing 10 years ago, apparently off the coast of Zanarkand. Yuna told him that her Jecht appeared on Spira 10 years ago.

"The date fits, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, but how would he get here?"

"You're here, aren't you? It can't be impossible if that's the case." Cloud stated, giving Tidus his opinion.

"Wait, does that mean you actually do believe-" Tidus was interrupted by the sudden turbulence of the ship. Waves crashed into the side of the ship; something was emerging from the water. Cloud quickly grabbed Yuna's arm to stop her from falling and pulled her close to his body.

"Sin!" One of the crew members shouted as a gigantic fin broke through the water surface. Cloud noticed some of the crew were heading for the harpoon guns.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing!? You can't use that, ya!" Wakka exclaimed, he must've spotted them as well.

"He's right. If you hit Sin with that we're done for. When it goes under, we go under." Cloud added, he had also moved in between one of the crew members and the harpoon.

"But Sin is going for Kilika! Our families are in Kilika! We have to distract it!" Cloud couldn't object, if his family was there, he would be doing the same thing. Hesitantly, he moved out of the way and allowed them to man the harpoon guns.

"Oh, boy!" Wakka didn't seem best pleased.

The harpoons were fired and pierced straight through Sin's fin. In retaliation, Sin fired fiends towards the ship. Lulu was sending passengers below deck, while Tidus, Wakka and Kimahri were fighting off the fiends. Cloud quickly realised fighting the fiends was pointless, Sin just kept sending more in after one wave had been cleared. If they wanted to end this fight, they needed to target Sin itself.

"Yuna summon Valefor, I have an idea." As soon as the winged beast appeared, Cloud jumped on top of it. He pointed towards Sin and Yuna nodded in understanding. She ordered Valefor to fly towards the fin and when they were close enough, Cloud jumped off and prepared to strike. The sound of metal striking against metal could be heard, Cloud's attack had been blocked by a sword. He recognised this sword.

"Good to see you, Cloud" Cloud's entire body shivered, the cold voice that had just spoken echoed in his mind. Green eyes of pure evil stared back into his and pierced through his soul. There was no doubt about it, it was him.

"Sephiroth?" Before Cloud had any time to gather his thoughts, he was forced to block two incoming strikes. Cloud tried to counter with a few strikes of his own, but he just started falling towards the ocean. Quickly, he lodged the Buster Sword into Sin's fin and stood on it.

"You don't seem happy to see me, that's a shame." Sephiroth was hovering just above Cloud, his single black-feathered wing spread out. They were on the other side of the fin; Cloud couldn't see the ship and he assumed they couldn't see him.

"How are you here? I killed you!" Sephiroth just chuckled at Cloud's confusion.

"Before I diffused into the lifestream, I found something. I found the connection between this world and ours, the pyreflies. Using their energy, I travelled here. I've been using the energy of the pyreflies to cheat death and recover from our previous battle. With the power of mako and pyreflies, you won't stop me this time. Now, let's have some fun, shall we?"

"What are you-" Cloud didn't get a chance to speak, Sephiroth had already started to act. With one swipe of his sword, Masamune, he released Sin from the harpoon severing the connection between it and the ship. With Sin now released, it moved at great pace towards Kilika. The Buster Sword had broken itself loose from Sin and Cloud fell towards the sea, only to be caught by Valefor.

They had lost. Sin sent a path of destruction towards Kilika. Huts were destroyed, bridges collapsed, lives were lost. Blood stained the ocean, the unforgiving destructive force of Sin reduced Kilika to nothing but ruins. So this was the power of Sin?

As Cloud arrived back on the ship, he was met by nothing but horror. Passengers were injured, the crew was injured, nobody could escape the wrath of Sin. Everyone was working to treat the injured, that's all they could do. Cloud noticed Tidus, dripping wet, slumped against the hull of the ship. He was bleeding from the arm. Cloud made his way over and tied a bandage around Tidus's arm, who winced in pain.

"Don't cry." Cloud mumbled.

"I'm not crying!" Tidus exclaimed, again wincing as Cloud tightened the bandage.

"This is what happens when you charge in blindly," Cloud sighed, "be smarter."

"But you charge in like that all the time!"

"The difference is, I have experience. You're just a beginner. If you try and do what I do, you'll get killed," Cloud had finished with Tidus's wound and stood up, "now, man up and help us with the other passengers."

After the ship had docked at Kilika, Yuna was the first to get off. She ran down the pier, seemingly being escorted by some of the locals. They were saying something about a sending. Cloud and the others quickly followed suit.

Wakka and the Aurochs had gone to try and help the people of Kilika, while Cloud, Lulu and Tidus stood together at another part of the dock. Kimahri was also there, though he was much closer to Yuna. They were waiting for her to perform a 'sending', that's what all the locals were calling it anyway.

"Uh, what's a sending? Are we going somewhere?" Cloud sighed at Tidus's ignorance, as did Lulu.

"You truly are clueless. Are you sure it's just your memory that's the problem? The dead need guidance. Filled with grief over their own death, they refuse to face their fate. They yearn to live on and resent those still alive. They envy the living and in time, that envy turns to anger, even hate," Lulu explained as she turned to look at Yuna, "Should these souls remain in Spira, they become fiends that prey on the living. The sending takes them to the Farplane, where they may rest in peace."

Cloud also turned to face Yuna. She began approaching the water and to Cloud's surprise, she continued to stay aloft on the water's surface. Ripples formed with each step she took. With her staff in hand, she began to dance. Pyreflies spiralled underneath her, under the water's surface. The more she danced, the more pyreflies would gather. A beautiful scenery, yet it had such a sad intention.

"I hope… I hope I did okay." Yuna said as she stumbled into Lulu's arms.

"I'm sure they're resting comfortably with their families. No more tears. Next time will be easier."

!~!

"Cloud? Can you hear me?" Aerith's voice echoed through Cloud's mind. Once again, he stood in the field of flowers.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me my nightmare wasn't over?"

"I wanted to tell you about Sephiroth but-" Aerith was interrupted by a voice, it was familiar to Cloud.

"Truth is, she couldn't," It was Zack, "if she told you then things could've gone another way, an unfavourable way."

"I don't know how you expect me to kill that thing. I couldn't even get close to Sin with Sephiroth around."

"Just keeping going, you'll find a way eventually." Zack told Cloud.

"But how am I-"

!~!

"Cloud? Cloud!?" Yuna's shouting pulled Cloud away from his meeting with his two friends, "Wake up, sleepyhead! Everyone's waiting, we're heading for the temple."

"Wait for me outside, I won't be long." Cloud replied as he sat up, his voice blunt and uninviting.

Just as Yuna had said, the group was waiting for him. They were just past the docks, where the path to the temple began.

"Hurry up, Bubby! You're late!" Wakka teased upon Cloud's arrival.

"Don't call me that." Cloud said, rather coldly. He wasn't in the mood for jokes, not after what he had just learnt. Sephiroth was all Cloud could think about.

"Before we go, I need to say something," Yuna informed that group, "I would like Tidus to become my guardian."

"What?" Lulu hissed; she wasn't happy. Perhaps it was because of how similar Tidus looked to Chappu, or could it be she thought they were trying to replace him, "You hardly know him, yet you want him as a guardian?"

"Lu's right, Yuna. He may be a Wizkid when it comes to Blitzball, but when it comes to fighting fiends; he's a newbie, ya?"

"Then, not a guardian. I just want him nearby. I want my journey to be full of laughter."

"What do you make of this, Cloud?" Lulu sighed.

"Isn't it Yuna's choice?" Cloud shrugged.

"But we don't even know-"

"Look, this is a one-time gig. When it's done, we're done. I don't really care who joins us. And for that matter, I don't care about Spira or its people. As soon as I get the chance, I'm out of here." Cloud heard shouts for him to come back as he walked into the forest, leaving the group. All he could think about was Sephiroth. He needed to blow off some steam.

"What on earth has gotten into him?" Lulu questioned.

"I wonder whether something happened?" Yuna's voice was shaky. That wasn't the Cloud that she knew, he was so cold towards them. Was it something she had done? Or, was it something else?

"We should wait a bit, let him cool off. If he doesn't come back in an hour, we'll go look for him, then we'll head to the temple, ya?" The group all agreed to Wakka's proposal. They couldn't go to the temple a guardian down, nor could they take Cloud to a temple in his current state.

The one-hour time limit was up and still there was no sign of Cloud. There was a unanimous decision to split up, they would be able to cover more ground that way. Everyone went off in their own direction, bar Kimahri who stayed by Yuna's side and helped her search.

Wakka followed a narrow path that took him deeper into the forest. Groups of pyreplies could be seen along the way, they increased in number the further Wakka followed it. Eventually, just as he expected, Cloud could be seen. He was cutting down every fiend in his path.

"Cloud, you okay brudda?" Wakka's only response was a glance in his direction as Cloud cut down another fiend, "Hey, if it's about the whole Tidus thing then, you don't have anything to worry about! Yuna doesn't like Tidus like that, ya? I can tell."

"It's not that, Wakka."

"I mean, she only wants him around for the positive energy! She doesn't like him in that way whatsoever, in fact-"

"Wakka! I told you, that's not the reason!" Cloud sighed as Wakka continued to babble on, though he felt calmer after hearing him say those things about Yuna not being interested in Tidus romantically. Cloud didn't really know why.

"So, what's got you all worked up?" Cloud paused as he contemplated whether he should tell them about Sephiroth or not. He had to tell them; they'd find out eventually anyway.

"I'll explain when we meet up with everyone else, they need to hear it too."

As Wakka led Cloud to the meeting point, where the two found the party fighting. They were all but defeated by a giant ochu, if it wasn't for two crusader's they would've been done for. Cloud rushed in and blocked an attack the pair of crusaders failed to see.

"You, you're Cloud, right!?" The brunette crusader was short and wore a green tunic with two white shoulder pads, he didn't seem to be any older than 16, "I heard about what you did in Besaid, I can't wait to see what you can do in person!"

"Focus, Gatta. You're in the middle of a battle." The other had spoken up, he had red hair, his pants were a bright purple and he wore brown shoulder pads. Cloud wondered whether the shoulder pads indicated their rank.

"Luzzu, Gatta! We owe you one! Now let's show that thing who's boss, ya!?"

"Let's just get this over with." Cloud sighed as he rested the Buster Sword on his shoulder, "Distract it, leave the rest to me."

Wakka opened with one of his elemental ball attacks. Fire enveloped his ball and he volleyed it straight at the beast. Its attempts to swat the ball away were denied with the help of Luzzu and Gatta. The pair were able to slice its tentacle vines off before it made contact with the ball. A direct hit to the face caused the ochu to screech in pain and gave Cloud the opening he needed. Quickly, he lunged at the fiend and performed cross-slash. Cloud's attack was too much for the ochu to handle and it quickly dissolved into pyreflies.

"Jheez! You didn't disappoint! What move was that!?"

"Gatta, we don't have time to stick around and talk. We still have orders to follow." Luzzu said, he appeared to be a higher rank out of the two. Cloud could tell by the way he followed orders to the letter as well as by how much more skilled he was in combat compared to Gatta.

"Come on, we need to heal the others up." Cloud said as he turned to Wakka while the two crusaders joined a larger group that was waiting for them. Once everyone was back on their feet, Cloud was bombarded with questions, just as he expected. Some, mainly Yuna, were asking him whether he was alright, while most of the others were demanding an explanation, "First off, I want you all to know I didn't mean any of those things I said before. I wasn't thinking straight."

"What could've possibly made you so angry, Cloud?" Lulu questioned.

"Back on Gaea, there was a man named Sephiroth…" Cloud proceeded to tell them about all the terrible things Sephiroth had done, about the Nibelheim incident, Aerith's death, the Meteor crisis, everything.

"Why are you telling us this? He's got nothing to do with us. What's the point in taking your anger out on us over something to do with your past?" Tidus was actually making sense for once, but of course he still spoke too soon.

"You're right, there was no point and I shouldn't have. But it's not about the past, this is about the present. Back when we fought Sin, I saw him, I spoke to him. He stopped me from attacking Sin and he's the one that let Sin loose onto Kilika. Sephiroth is on Spira." Silence followed. For a moment, it seemed like they had all given up.

"How are we meant to fight someone like that?" Wakka sounded almost depressed as he spoke.

"You aren't. Sephiroth is my problem, I'm gonna fight him alone."

"If you're fighting him, then so am I," Cloud was surprised to see Yuna speak up against him, "I can't stand by while I watch someone I care about, risk their life for me."

"Yuna's right, ya! We'll be fighting too!"

"We have your back." Lulu seemed just as fired up as Wakka and Yuna.

"There's no I in team, right?" Tidus was punching the air and jogging on the spot.

"Kimahir fight too." Even Kimahri had spoken up to stand by Cloud.

"You see? If you fight, we fight." Yuna said as she and the others stood in front of Cloud, their faces full of determination. Cloud sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"You guys are a pain in the ass, you know that?" A smirk forced itself onto Cloud's face as he started walking down the path, "come on, let's get moving."

The group moved deeper into the forest, towards the temple. Lulu had been trying to teach Tidus how to use magic, though it didn't seem to be going well. Cloud had tried to give him his materia to help, but Tidus couldn't even figure out how to use that. Yuna laughed as Cloud sighed at another failed attempt by Tidus. Yuna nudged into Cloud who stood with his hands on his hips as he watched the young blitzballer.

"It's good to see you back to normal, Cloud." Yuna smiled at him.

"Only thanks to you," Cloud replied as he continued to watch on, "Your words early cheered me up."

"So, you think he'll ever figure it out?" Yuna gestured in Tidus's direction.

"It's not impossible, but at this rate we'll never get you that aeon. Not even Barret had this much trouble with materia," Cloud sighed and hung his head, "This is too painful to watch."

Cloud made his way over to Tidus and tried to explain the basics again, to no avail of course. Yuna stood and watched the blond mercenary. She found herself drawn to Cloud's every action, she wanted to know where he was and what he was doing at all times. She wanted to be with him all the time, what was this feeling? It felt; good.

"Yuna, watch out!" Cloud shouted out to her as he picked her up and jumped out of the way of an attack. While she had been daydreaming, an ochu had crept up on her. This one seemed different from the other. Its skin looked thicker and rather than the usual purple and green colour, it was a scaly grey. Lulu shot a fire spell at it, the ochu didn't even seem bothered.

"Ochus are meant to be weak to fire! Why didn't it work!?" Lulu couldn't comprehend why the ochu was still standing without a single scratch on it.

"It's got a fire-resistant layer of skin," Cloud lunged in and swung his blade at the fiend, however it only bounced off, "Looks like physical attacks are a no go, too."

"What do we do, Bubby?" Wakka's ball was easily swatted away.

"We need to pierce through that skin. Lightning magic." Cloud looked over to Lulu and Tidus. Lulu had already used a lot of mana which concerned Cloud. If she had ran out then it was on Tidus, who struggled to even use materia.

"It's up to you, Tidus. I only had enough mana left for that fire spell." Just as Cloud suspected, Lulu had no mana. Despite this, they would have to fight on. Cloud and Kimahri engaged in melee combat to try and draw the attention of the ochu onto them. All they could do was defend, neither Kimahri nor Cloud could pierce through that skin.

"Alright! Time to teach you a lesson! Go, thunder!" Tidus shot his arm out expecting a bolt of lightning to hit the ochu, yet nothing happened.

"Didn't I tell you to use magic!?" Cloud said as he rolled out of the way of a vine tentacle.

"It's not working! Come on you piece of junk!" Tidus proceeded to hit the bangle on his arm where the materia was stored. Wakka was trying to support Cloud and Kimahri the best he could with his elemental ball attacks, but the ochu just kept swatting it away before it even got close.

"Hello? Lightning magic? Have you still not figured out how to use materia!?" Cloud had just sliced through a tentacle heading straight for Tidus.

"I'm trying! Urgh, thunder! Go, thunder!" Suddenly a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and pierced straight through the ochu, "Yeah! I did it!"

"Sorry, that was me." Yuna had summoned Valefor and ordered it to cast a lightning spell on the ochu. Cloud noticed it took some time for the second spell to come in, it seemed as though Valefor wasn't trained up enough to continuously cast spells. They weren't going to get anywhere at this rate. Cloud jumped back and began to call a summon.

"Come, God of Lightning, Ramuh!" Bolts of lightning began hitting the same spot on the ground just behind Cloud as the sky above darkened. The ground began to rise up and after another flash of lightning an old man, dressed all in white with a long beard of the same colour, appeared atop the newly formed mound of land. Ramuh raised his staff into the air. All of the lightning bolts were drawn towards the rod; however, they didn't linger for long. Ramuh pointed the staff in the direction of the ochu. It screamed in pain as bolt after bolt pierced through its skin until it eventually began to dissipate into pyreflies.

"What the heck was that, ya!? Since when was Bubby a summoner!?"

"Since never." Cloud responded.

"Then how the hell did you do that, ya? You haven't prayed to any of the fayth, not to mention I've never even seen that aeon before."

"He used his materia." Yuna explained to Wakka as she took Cloud's left arm and lifted it up, revealing the glowing red master summon materia in his bangle.

"Some of those summons are even the same as our aeons," Lulu further elaborated, "By the way, Cloud. You mentioned you were having problems with those ones in particular; did you ever figure it out?"

"No, for some reason I can't sense their spirits inside the materia. I still don't really know why."

"Fascinating, but more importantly I want to know why that ochu was so strong. I've never seen one that had a fire-resistant layer of skin before."

"I agree, Lulu, and I think I have the answer." Cloud pointed to a crevice in the ground that he had eyed up, glowing green liquid was oozing out of it.

"Hey! It's the same as before, ya!" Cloud nodded at Wakka's observation.

"A mako fountain," Cloud knelt down beside it, "There was one in Besaid too, like you said. It seems like the fiends are bathing in the mako, causing their strength to increase."

"But how is the blood of your planet appearing on Spira?" Yuna asked.

"I'm not sure. My guess is it has something to do with Sephiroth," Cloud turned to face Lulu and threw an ether to her, "Can you plug this up with your ice magic?"

"Of course, but will it be alright to leave it?"

"It should be fine. When mako is crystallised, it turns into materia. The volume of the crystallised mako determines the strength of that newly formed materia. With such a small amount here, it'll be nothing more than a glowing rock." Cloud explained as Lulu necked the small bottle of ether, replenishing her mana stocks. She approached the mako fountain and froze it almost instantly.

Continuing on towards the temple, Yuna insisted that she wanted to be on the front line. She was saying that she wanted to get stronger and increase her aeon's strength. Cloud didn't like the idea, but she some how got her way. Kimahri and Lulu both joined her as a part of the vanguard, leaving Cloud with Wakka and Tidus.

"Hey, Wakka. How come you all believe Cloud about being from a different world, but not me!?"

"Well for a start, Bubby has proof, ya? I ain't ever seen anything like that materia. When you get proof, maybe I'll change my mind." Wakka teased.

"Tch, it doesn't even work anyway." Tidus complained.

"That's because you're using it wrong," Cloud sighed, "How many times do I have to tell you? You're thinking about the wrong thing. You keep shouting 'thunder or 'blizzard' when I've already told you, it's bolt and ice."

"That's the same thing!" Again, Cloud sighed at Tidus's comment.

"Maybe you should just stick to your sword. Magic obviously isn't for you."

At last, the group had arrived at the base of the temple. A large set of stone stairs was presented before them. Cloud looked up and sighed at the miniature mountain they were about to climb.

"Is this really necessary?"

"Hey, these stone steps have a history, you know. Yep, Lord Ohalland trained here at his peak." Cloud had heard of this Lord Ohalland that Wakka had mentioned, he read about him in Besaid temple's library. Ohalland was a high summoner, he also used to play blitzball before his pilgrimage began. Apparently, he was pretty good.

"A race, huh? Think you can beat me?" Cloud and Wakka overheard Tidus say to the Aurochs. They appeared to be snickering and started lining up at the bottom of the stairs. Wakka had said that they were going to the temple to pray for victory.

"Ha! I don't think, I know I can beat you! I can beat Bubby over there too, ya?" Wakka joined them and lined up at the bottom. Cloud sighed and remained where he was, arms folded, "What's wrong, Bubby? You scared of getting beat?"

"He must be, otherwise he would join in!" Yuna teased.

"Huh? Whose side are you on, Yuna?" Cloud replied as he placed his hands on his hips.

"If he's refusing to race, then there's no other explanation."

"You too, Lulu?" Cloud pinched the bridge of his nose then joined the line, "Fine, only to shut you all up."

"Heh, heh. Yuna, if you would?" Wakka asked, gesturing for her to count them in.

"Ready!?" Yuna raised her arm in the air. Suddenly, before she shouted go, Yuna dashed up the stairs and took a head start. Cloud and Wakka both glanced at each other and shot up the stairs in pursuit, leaving Tidus and the Aurochs behind in a daze.

It didn't take long for Cloud to lose Wakka, he also had Yuna in his sights. Yuna tripped on the edge of one of the steps, she would've fallen face first onto the floor if it wasn't for Cloud catching her at the last second. He hoisted her up over his shoulder and continued running.

"Hey, no fair! Put me down!" Yuna was struggling to get her words out in between all of her laughter, it seemed Cloud had cracked a smirk as well.

"Alright, alright." Cloud stopped running and lowered Yuna down. He wanted to speak, but his words wouldn't come out. All he could do was stare at the summoner as she laughed away. Her blue and green eyes had put Cloud into a trance-like state, they were truly amazing. Yuna had stopped laughing, as she too was lost in Cloud's glowing blue eyes.

"Um, Cloud?" Her cheeks had turned bright red. Cloud turned his back on Yuna.

"Sorry, it's nothing." Cloud ever so slightly glanced back at her, "Your eyes, they're… pretty."

"L-Look out!" Screams could be heard from below, Cloud and Yuna both ran down the steps to find the others fighting off a fiend.

"Everyone, quick! Sinspawn!" Wakka exclaimed as he threw his ball at the creature. The sinspawn had planted two of its tentacles into the ground which had surfaced behind the party leaving them surrounded.

"If we want to defeat this thing, we need to get rid of that shell and the only way we're gonna do that is by using magic. Tidus, now would be a good time to figure out how to use that materia." Cloud suggested as he cut one of the tentacles in half.

Lulu had already started casting away. Wakka also used his elemental ball attacks to try and support her, though they weren't as effective as the actual spells. Cloud and Kimahri were fending off the tentacles, allowing their party members to cast spells freely, while Yuna had started performing the ritual to summon Valefor.

"Bolt!" Cloud glanced behind him and saw a bolt of lightning hit the sinspawn, Tidus was punching the air in delight, "Alright! I did it!"

"Don't let up! Give it everything you've got!" Cloud encouraged as he and Kimahri continued to hack away at the tentacles.

Eventually, the sinspawn's defences had been penetrated and the shell had been dealt with. Yuna wasted no time and commanded Valefor to perform Energy Ray. All that remained was the faint glow of pyreflies, spiralling up towards the sky. Everyone celebrated in triumph of their swift victory over the sinspawn.

"Nice job." Cloud patted Yuna's head once as he walked by her, on his way to join the rest of the group.

"Did you see that shit!?" Tidus exclaimed, his fists punching through the air.

"I did, it looks like you managed to grow a few brain cells." Cloud teased.

"Huh!?"

"Hahahahaha! That was a good one Bubby!" Wakka had burst out laughing at Cloud's comment and wrapped his arms round Tidus's head, putting him in a headlock. Even Lulu cracked a little smirk.

"So, what are these 'sinspawn' anyway?" Tidus asked, hoping to change the topic of conversation.

"Fiends. They fall from Sin's body and are left behind in its wake." Lulu explained before continuing on up the stairs.

"Leave 'em alone and Sin comes back for 'em. You gotta be quick!" Wakka finished as he too, along with the rest of the group, followed Lulu up towards the temple.

Cloud was at the rear of the group when they reached the temple. The temple itself had a very odd design. In a way, it reminded Cloud of the guard scorpion he had faced with Barret all that time ago on his first mission with AVALANCHE.

Despite the motto of respect that seemed to correlate between all temples, a group of people exited looking not so respectful. They were all dressed in a purple outfit, Cloud assumed it was another blitzball team. The one in the middle had dark red hair and matching tattoos on both shoulders that looked like they had been painted on. To the left was a darker skinned man with black hair, two ponytails could be seen sticking out from the back of his head. Finally, the one on the right sported blond hair and had a slightly darker complexion than the red head.

The group dressed in purple walked up the stairs and through the temple patio, barging past people who were in their way. It seemed like they had stopped to say a few things to the Aurochs. Words were exchanged and the heads of the Aurochs had dropped, while the other group were laughing and snickering to each other.

"This time, we play to win!" Cloud heard Tidus say as he got closer to the encounter.

"Oooo! Play away! Just remember, even kids can play, boys." The red head stated as he and his minions walked past the group. As Cloud crossed paths with him, he tried to barge Cloud out of the way. Unfortunately for him, Cloud didn't budge and instead it was the red head who began to stumble. Cloud glanced behind him as they walked away.

"Pathetic," Cloud walked past Wakka as he made his way to the temple, "You better not lose."

Inside the temple, Cloud stood to one side with his arms folded while the others prayed at each of the high summoner statues. He noticed two people exit from the chamber of the fayth. One was a dark-skinned woman with hazel eyes and black hair, the other light-skinned with a muscular frame and brown hair.

"A summoner, are you?" The woman questioned Yuna as she descended the staircase.

"My name is Yuna, I'm from the Isle of Besaid."

"Dona." Cloud moved to Yuna's side as she spoke to her fellow summoner, "So, you're High Summoner Braska's daughter? That's quite the name to live up to. My, my, my and all these people are your guardians? My, what a rabble! As I recall, Lord Braska had only two guardians. Quality over quantity, my dear. Whatever were you thinking?"

"By the looks of things, I'd say you have neither." Cloud had noticed the others getting down by Dona's comments and couldn't stay quiet any longer, "All you have is an obedient dog leashed to your side without a brain to think for himself."

"What was that, frizzy hair?" Dona got right up in Cloud's face. He just sighed and moved her out of the way.

"People like you are all the same. No skill, no heart, no dignity. You're all talk."

"Please! Barthello and I would run straight through you all. You must be a pathetic group if it takes this many of you to protect a single summoner!"

"I only have as many guardians as there are people I can trust!" Yuna had found the courage to speak up and positioned herself between Cloud and Dona, speaking directly to her, "I trust them all with my life. To have so many guardians is a joy and an honour! Even more so than being my father's daughter. Of course, I would never think of questioning your ways, either. So, Lady Dona, I ask of you: leave us in peace."

Cloud was impressed by Yuna's little speech, the others also seemed to be in heightened spirits. Dona could only let out a grunt of annoyance as she stormed off and exited the temple, her lapdog guardian following suit. With no more distractions, the group made their way up the stairs and towards the chamber of the fayth. Soon enough, they would be one step closer to their goal.


End file.
